Last
week both the Herald and the Post had articles concerning
euthanasia and the new doctor-assisted suicide bill passed this November in
Oregon. With the use of life-support systems and the attention given to Dr.
Kevorkian, would you please explain the Catholic teaching on euthanasia?—A
Reader

Pope Pius XII, who witnessed and condemned the eugenics and euthanasia
programs of the Nazis, was the first to explicate clearly this moral problem and
provide guidance. In 1980, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
released its Declaration on Euthanasia which further clarified this guidance
especially in light of the increasing complexity of life-support systems and the
promotion of euthanasia as a valid means of ending life. The new Catechism (No.
2276-2279) provides a succinct explanation of our Catholic teaching on this
subject.

Before addressing the issue of euthanasia, we must first remember that the
Catholic Church holds as sacred both the dignity of each individual person and
the gift of life. Therefore, the following principles are morally binding:
First, to make an attempt on the life of or to kill an innocent person is an
evil action. Second, each person is bound to lead his life in accord with God's
plan and with an openness to His will, looking to life's fulfillment in heaven.
Finally, intentionally committing suicide is a murder of oneself and considered
a rejection of God's plan. For these reasons, the Second Vatican Council
condemned "all offenses against life itself, such as murder, genocide,
abortion, euthanasia and willful suicide...(Gaudium et Spes, No. 27).

Given these principles, we believe that each person is bound to use ordinary
means of caring for personal health. Here one would think of proper nourishment—food
and water—and ordinary medical care. Ordinary means would be those which offer
reasonable hope of benefit and are not unduly burdensome to either the patient
or the family.

A person may, but is not bound to, use extraordinary means—those means
which primarily are not considered ordinary medical care. In our world today,
however, exactly what constitutes extraordinary medical care becomes harder and
harder to define. For instance, accepting an artificial heart is clearly
experimental and would be extraordinary; whereas the usage of a respirator or
ventilator is oftentimes standard procedure to aid the patient's recovery.

To help navigate through this confusing area of extraordinary means, the
focus should be on whether the treatment provides reasonable hope of benefit to
the patient and what the degree of burden is to the patient and his family.
Factors to consider in making this decision would be the type of treatment, the
degree of complexity, the amount of risk involved, its cost and accessibility
and the state of the sick person and his resources. One should weigh the
proportion of pain and suffering against the amount of good to be done.

Given this notion of health care, we can turn to the subject at hand.
Euthanasia, literally translated as "good death" or "easy
death," is "an action or omission which of itself or by intention
causes death, in order that all suffering may in this way be eliminated"
(Declaration on Euthanasia). In other words, euthanasia involves the purposeful
termination of life by direct action, such as lethal injection, or by an
omission, such as starvation or dehydration. Note that euthanasia is commonly
known as "mercy killing"; this term is most appropriate because the
act involves an intentional killing, no matter how good the intention may be to
alleviate suffering.

However, euthanasia must be distinguished from the stopping of extraordinary
means of health care. The patient—or guardian in the case of an unconscious
patient—has the right to reject outright or to discontinue those procedures
which are extraordinary, do not offer a proportionate good, do not offer
reasonable hope of benefit or are simply "heroic." Such a decision is
most appropriate when death is clearly imminent. In these cases, the person
would place himself in God's hands and prepare to leave this life, while
maintaining ordinary means of health care.

For instance, several years ago, a dear priest friend of mine was diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer and told he would die from the disease; rather than
undergo painful chemotherapy or radiation, which would only give him perhaps six
months more to live this life, he entered the hospice program, which provided
nourishment, pain medication and excellent nursing care. He prepared himself to
meet the Lord whom he served as a priest for 45 years.

Another friend of mine was dying of prostate cancer which had metastasized
throughout his body. When I saw him last in the hospital, he had gone into a
coma and was being fed intravenously and was breathing through a respirator. His
kidneys had failed. The doctors told the family that there was nothing more they
could do and the situation was not reversible.

At that point, the medical technology was not providing any hope of recovery
or benefit but rather was prolonging death. The family decided to turn off the
respirator, which had now become an extraordinary means, and minutes later my
friend went to meet his Lord. This action was morally permissible and different
from purposefully terminating life. Granted, no one enjoys suffering. However,
we must remember that each of us was baptized into Christ's passion, death and
resurrection. We all share in our Lord's cross and that, at times, may be very
painful. This suffering, however, especially at the last moments of one's life,
must be seen as sharing our Lord's sufferings. By uniting our suffering with our
Lord's, we expiate the hurt caused by our own sins and help to expiate the sins
of others, just as some of the early martyrs did who offered their sufferings
for sinners. Sometimes, such suffering finally heals the wounds that have
divided families. In all, we must look to Christ to aid us in our suffering and
guide us from this life to Himself.

None of these cases is easy. However, there is a great difference between
purposely killing someone and allowing a person to die peacefully with dignity.
We must remember that "what a sick person needs, besides medical care, is
love, the human and supernatural warmth with which the sick person can and ought
to be surrounded by all those close to him or her, parents and children, doctors
and nurses" (Declaration on Euthanasia).

This article appeared in the December 15, 1994 issue of "The Arlington
Catholic Herald." Courtesy of the "Arlington Catholic Herald"
diocesan newspaper of the Arlington (VA) diocese. For subscription information,
call 1-800-377-0511 or write 200 North Glebe Road, Suite 607 Arlington, VA
22203.